A total of six different events will be contested at day 1 prelims in Victoria, with the 50 fly, 200 free, 200 breast and 100 back going off along with the timed final heats of the women’s 1500 and men’s 800 free. The fastest heat of each will be swum with finals tonight.

Penny Olekisak took the top seed in the women’s 50 fly this morning, clocking a time of 26.40. Her best time stands at 25.93 from last year, just 0.01 off the Canadian Record. Sadie Fazekas also slipped under 27 seconds in 26.96, and Sandrine Mainville takes the third seed into tonight at 27.04.

American Kyle Robrock posted the fastest time of the morning in the men’s 50 fly in 24.39, though he and 7th fastest Peter Webster (also American) won’t be eligible for the A-final.

Matt Dansof the GO Kingfish will have lane 4 in the A-final posting the top time of any Canadian in 24.57, followed by Alexandre Perreault(24.68) and Josiah Binnema (24.70). Mack Darragh and Scott Hunter (both 25.11) will also qualify for the A-final in a tie for 7th among Canadians.

Three women got under the ‘A’ standard in the prelims of the women’s 200 free, with Katerine Savard leading the way in a quick 1:58.29. Also under the standard was Mackenzie Padington and Kayla Sanchez who qualified 2nd and 3rd overall.

The top-8 are separated by less than 1.5 seconds and should make for a great race tonight. Calgary’s Colin Gilbert and Peter Brothers also got under 1:51 to qualify 5th and 6th overall. The men will be shooting for the ‘A’ standard of 1:47.73 tonight.

After tying for 9th place, Alexander Pratt of Cascade beat out Adrian Vanderhelm of Barrie in a swim-off, 1:51.03 to 1:51.28. They were both 1:51.44 in the heats.

Shockingly we saw two of the top five seeds get disqualified in the women’s 200 breast heats, with #2 Kelsey Wogand #5 Sydney Pickrem both nailed. Wog was expected to challenge Kierra Smithfor the win in this race after winning silver at the Short Course World Championships.

Pickrem posted a time of 2:26.26 before getting DQed which would have qualified 2nd. Wog’s 2:28.53 would’ve had her 3rd best, 4th if Pickrem wasn’t DQed.

Kylie Massesmashed her own Canadian Record in the prelims in a time of 58.42, lowering her mark from the medley relay prelims in Rio that stood at 58.66. Masse is the reigning Olympic bronze medalist and has a good shot at improving that position in Budapest this summer. The world record stands at 58.12.

After just finishing up his first NCAA Championships a few weeks ago, Javier Acevedo of Ajax put together a nice morning swim for the top seed in 54.70. Acevedo qualified for the Olympic team last year clocking 53.67 in the Trials final, just 0.04 off the national record. After a very impressive 11th place finish at NCAAs in this event, we should expect Acevedo to be a bit faster tonight.

Rob Hill also had strong swim, clocking a new best time in 55.32 for the 2nd seed. Both Anton Loncar (Croatia) and Kyle Robrock (USA) won’t be eligible for the A-final due to their international status, which will move 9th and 10th fastest of the morning William Marois and Josh Zakalainto the A-final.

Markus Thormeyer qualified for his second final of the day in 3rd at 55.87, and should be capable of a nice drop after clocking 52.50 SCM at the U Sport Championships in February.

Women’s 1500 Free Timed Final (Early Heats)

Canadian Record: 15:57.15, Brittany Maclean, 2014

Marit Anderson, CP, 17:07.39

Rania Hamida Nefsi, ELITE, 17:21.03

Lexy King, ROD, 17:22.38

Victoria Mock, UVPCS, 17:23.76

Daphne Demers, CAMO, 17:36.38

Avery Movold, PGB, 17:36.50

Andrea Terriault, CAMO, 17:37.31

Rosalie Davidson, NN, 17:38.65

Through the early 1500 heats Marit Anderson leads the field in 17:07.39, well clear of 2nd place Rania Hamida Nefsi (17:21.03). The top eight seeds will swim tonight with finals.

Rafael Davila put up a best time of 7:58.90 in the early 800m heats to sit miles ahead of the field. Davila was actually the top seed coming in, but was ineligible to swim in the fastest heat due to the fact that he represents Venezuela internationally. Ryley McRae is fastest among Canadian swimmers so far in 8:26.53.

About James Sutherland

James formerly competed for the Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in February of 2018, placing 11th at the OUA Championships in the 200 IM, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics in May. He …